“I don’t think the issue is that Jesus has lost his attention on us. We have lost our attention on him,” said Keith Minier as he wound up this morning’s main session at Momentum Youth Conference.
Keith, who is senior pastor at Grace Fellowship Church, Pickerington, Ohio, encouraged students to not stop with a decision to follow Jesus. “The Comeback, simply put, is a person,” he said. “He is the Lord, Jesus. It’s a relationship with Jesus Christ.”
He noted that sometimes we make a decision to follow Christ, but it doesn’t end up the way we expected.
“We are confusing the beginning with the end,” he said. “Your faith is born in a moment, but your faith is experienced in your lifetime.”
Looking at Hebrews 12:1-3, he stressed that you cannot hit a ball you are not looking at. In other words, run the race with perseverance, focused on the goal. “You are changed by coming back daily,” he said.
He also said that when you keep coming to the Comeback, you are able to see clearly. “You see that you are loved for who you are, not for what you do.”
He encouraged students to develop a daily habit that will keep them focused on the person of Jesus Christ, then ask their youth leader to hold them accountable.
Also in Wednesday’s session, Suze Fair spoke about her four-decades long battle with cancer. She shared how each decade since she was 15, she was diagnosed with the disease. “Today, I’m 52 years old and I’m not worried at all about turning 55.”
She stressed being confident that God has not turned away in such situations. “When we suffer for God, we become a little more like Jesus,” she said.
“When you ask Jesus into your ordinary life, it will be come extraordinary, not because of you. You give access to a kind of joy that will carry you through any suffering.”
Wednesday morning began with Power Trax and Youth Worker Labs. The afternoon is full of many On Mission Opportunities and other activities, including Momentum’s Got Talent.
After dinner, the evening begins with a Concert of Prayer followed by the 8:30 p.m. main session. Jim Brown, pastor of Grace Community Church, Goshen, Ind., and Jason Holt, of Urban Hope, Philadelphia, Pa., will be the speakers.
Momentum main sessions may be viewed live online via the Momentum Live Feed. (Click here to access.)